What if it’s Christmas Eve…
如果现在是圣诞前夜呢……
Outside, it’s dark and freezing.
外面又黑又冷。
Snow is falling.
雪慢慢地下着。
The street is quiet.
街道安静得有点不真实。
Inside, the house is warm.
屋子里却暖洋洋的。
There’s a fire in the living room.
客厅里烧着壁炉火。
Stockings are hanging.
壁炉上挂着圣诞袜。
The tree is glowing.
圣诞树在一闪一闪地发光。
The kids are in bed,
孩子们躺在床上，
but they keep asking:
却还是忍不住一直问：
“Will Santa really come down the chimney?”
“圣诞老人真的会从烟囱里爬下来吗？”
Welcome to One Sip English,
欢迎来到「一口英语 One Sip English」，
where we take one English word or phrase,
在这里，我们每次只讲一个英文单词或短语，
sip it slowly,
慢慢品，
and make it stay in your mind.
让它真正留在你的脑子里。
Today’s word is chimney.
今天的单词是 chimney。
A chimney is the tall pipe
chimney 指的是那根高高的“管子”，
that goes from the fireplace
从壁炉的位置一路向上，
up through the roof
穿过屋顶，
and into the sky.
一直通到屋外的天空。
Fireplace at the bottom,
下面是壁炉，
chimney going up.
上面是往上伸出去的烟囱。
The job of the chimney is simple:
烟囱的工作很简单：
let the smoke go out,
让烟跑到外面去，
so the room can stay warm and safe.
这样房间里就既温暖又安全。
So you can say:
所以你可以这么用：
“Smoke was coming out of the chimney.”
“烟正从烟囱里冒出来。（Smoke was coming out of the chimney.）”
“We sat by the fireplace,
“我们坐在壁炉旁边，
with the chimney above us.”
头顶上就是通向屋顶的烟囱。（with the chimney above us.）
And at Christmas,
一到圣诞节，
there’s one classic sentence:
有一句非常经典的说法：
“Santa comes down the chimney.”
“圣诞老人会从烟囱里钻下来。（Santa comes down the chimney.）”
Of course, we don’t really see him.
当然，现实里我们从来没见过他。
But in English stories and movies,
但在英文故事和电影里，
he doesn’t use the door.
他一般不用门进来，
He slides down the chimney
而是从烟囱里滑下来，
into the living room,
滑进客厅，
drops the presents,
放下礼物，
and then goes back up.
然后再从烟囱爬回去。
There’s also a fun expression:
还有一个挺好玩的表达：
“He smokes like a chimney.”
“He smokes like a chimney.”
That means he smokes a lot,
意思是他烟抽得特别多，
like a chimney that is always full of smoke.
就像烟囱一样总是冒烟。
Quick check so you don’t mix words:
我们快速对一下这些词，别弄混了：
The fireplace is inside the room.
fireplace 是在房间里面的壁炉，
You see the fire there.
你能直接看到火在那儿烧。
The chimney is the vertical tunnel
chimney 是那条竖着的“通道”，
that takes the smoke outside.
负责把烟送到屋外去。
And big factory pipes
而那种工厂上特别大的粗管子，
are usually called smokestacks,
通常叫 smokestacks，
not chimneys.
一般不会叫 chimneys。
So next time you see
所以下次当你看到
a cute drawing of a house in the snow,
一幅雪地里小房子的插画，
with a little puff of smoke
屋顶上有一缕小小的烟，
going up into the winter sky—
慢慢往冬天的天空里飘上去——
remember that tall piece on the roof,
记住：屋顶上那根细细长长的东西，
the one Santa uses on Christmas Eve,
圣诞前夜里圣诞老人“专用”的那条通道，
is called the chimney.
就叫做 chimney，烟囱。